11/17/06

U.S. military plans new compound at Guantanamo to hold war crimes trials

By MICHAEL MELIA
Associated Press Writer

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- The U.S. military on Friday said it plans to build a $125 million compound at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base where it hopes to hold war-crimes trials for terror suspects by the middle of next year.

The compound, designed to accommodate as many as 1,200 people, would include dining areas, work spaces and sleeping accommodations for administrative personnel, lawyers, journalists and others involved in trials at the isolated detention center in southeast Cuba.

It would create a total of three courtrooms on the base to allow for simultaneous trials, and a separate high-security area to house the detainees on trial.

"We need to build more courtrooms, and we want to do multiple trials," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Chito Peppler, a Pentagon spokesman. He said the government hopes to begin construction as soon as possible to be ready for trials no later than July 1.

Human rights groups and foreign governments have called on the Bush administration to close Guantanamo, saying detainees are being held illegally, but the planned construction of new facilities underscores its permanence.

"This is a huge waste of taxpayer money," said Michael Ratner, president of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents hundreds of Guantanamo detainees. "They've been trying to try people for five years, and until they try somebody according to the Constitution, nothing's going to happen there."

Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, described the compound proposed by the Pentagon as "a permanent homage to its failed experiment in second class justice."

The project, which has not yet been submitted for congressional approval, represents one of the largest upgrades to the detention center since it began taking in suspected enemy combatants in January 2002.

Among the terror suspects expected to face war crimes trials at Guantanamo are 14 "high-value" detainees who were recently transferred from secret CIA custody. They include Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and Abu Zubaydah, believed to be a link between Osama bin Laden and many al-Qaida cells.

Plans for the compound are provided in a "presolicitation notice," dated Nov. 3 and posted on the Internet for potential government contractors. It was first reported by The Miami Herald.

The contractor will be required to complete work by July on the compound including "a secure perimeter," a garage for 100 government vehicles and a closed-circuit video transmission center, according to the notice. The new compound will be located in a field overlooking the bay and near the existing courtroom, which sits on a hill.

The U.S. government is drafting new rules for the trials under the Military Commissions Act, which President Bush signed last month. The Supreme Court had declared that previous efforts to try Guantanamo detainees were unconstitutional.

Previously, 10 detainees were charged with crimes. A total of some 70 detainees are expected to be charged under the new law, military officials have said. There are currently some 430 detainees at Guantanamo.

Defense lawyers have challenged the validity of the new law, which bars detainees from using the civilian court system. If a federal appeals court or the Supreme Court rules in their favor, it could strike down the military trials.